Nov 24, 2016 4 min read

INDIANAPOLIS – You can only play the teams on your schedule and you can only play them when the NFL schedules those games.

That’s why the Steelers weren’t making any apologies for playing the Indianapolis Colts without star quarterback Andrew Luck.

After all, the Patriots didn’t send flowers when they played the Steelers in Pittsburgh earlier this season with Ben Roethlisberger sidelined.

Injuries are part of the game. And when you play a team is often as important as where you play them.

That is why, quite frankly, this was a game the Steelers had to have if they are going to make a push toward the playoffs.

Playing against backup quarterback Scott Tolzien instead of Andrew Luck, who was out with a concussion, was an opportunity Thursday night for the Steelers.

Indianapolis’ defense is, well, not good.

The Colts are built to win shootouts. They have plenty of skill position players, led by Luck.

What they don’t have is a good defense.

Many would say the same thing about Pittsburgh’s defense. For much of this season, that would be the truth.

But this defense is making strides. Last week against Cleveland, the Steelers started a defense that included three rookies, cornerback Artie Burns, safety Sean Davis and nose tackle Javon Hargrave. All three had started games at some point earlier this season, but that marked the first time all three started at the same time.

It’s something that hasn’t happened in such a long time in Pittsburgh that nobody can recall the last time it did. For much of Bill Cowher’s tenure and previously in Mike Tomlin’s 10 seasons, the Steelers rarely started rookies, especially on defense.

There were some here or there, such as in 2001 when Casey Hampton and Kendrell Bell found their way into the lineup and helped revive what was a struggling unit, making it one of the best in the NFL.

Often times with good teams, working rookies into the lineup comes at the expense of winning. And many of those previous Pittsburgh teams weren’t good enough on offense to overcome some rookie mistakes.

That’s not the issue for this current rookie trio. The Steelers don’t have any grand visions of Burns, Davis and Hargrave, their top three draft picks, making this a shutdown unit.

With Pittsburgh’s offense, it doesn’t need a shutdown defensive unit.

But they can make it better. As we have seen, they make the defense much faster and physically imposing.

“I’m excited about what they’re going to do or what they’re capable of doing moving forward because they work hard every day,” said Tomlin. “They’re getting better. They’re adding detail to their game every week. I think the first thing is that all three guys are likable young guys. They endear themselves to the older players. The older players want to help them and that helps them help us. So they’re humble, hard-working – that helps them. They get help from veteran players. It just needs to continue.”

Burns led the team with two interceptions going into Thursday night’s game and is the only Pittsburgh defensive back with an interception this season. Mike Mitchell and William Gay each got one in the fourth quarter.

Hargrave has manned the middle of the team’s defense all season from his nose tackle spot and is being counted on to do even more with defensive end Cam Heyward out for the rest of the way.

We hadn’t seen a lot of plays out Davis, however, until Thursday night.

With the Colts and Tolzien facing third-and-goal from the 1 just before the half and the Steelers leading 21-7, Tolzien rolled to his right with a run-pass option. His pass option was covered, however, and he tucked the ball to run, with only Davis to beat into the end zone.

The young safety stopped him in his tracks.

“I just made a play,” said Davis. “My football instincts kicked in. It was just instincts.”

The Steelers then forced an incompletion on fourth down to keep their 21-7 lead.

It goes as just one tackle on the stat sheet. But in a game with a backup quarterback starting for the Colts, maintaining that 14-point advantage was huge.

The games over the past two weeks might have been against two sub-standard teams in the Browns and Colts without Luck.

But for a team with some room for growth and breaking in three young defensive players, it has been an opportunity to gain experience in wins.

That could pay great dividends down the road.

No apologies needed.

Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com